Abstract
[EN] The aim of this work was to study the value of the main allergen Asp n 3 of
Aspergillus niger as a molecular marker of allergenicity and pathogenicity with the
potential to be used in the identification of A. niger as a contaminant and cause of
spoilage of Mangifera indica. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used
for the amplification of Asp n 3 gene. Two pairs of primers were designed: one for
the amplification of the entire sequence and another one for the amplification of the
most conserved region of this peroxisomal protein. The presence of A. niger was
demonstrated by the early detection of the allergenic protein Asp n 3 coding gene,
which could be considered a species-specific marker. The use of primers designed
based on the conserved region of the Asp n 3 encoding gene allowed us to identify
the presence of the closely related fungal species Aspergillus fumigatus by detecting
Asp n 3 homologous protein, which can be cross-reactive. The use of conserved
segments of the Asp n 3 gene or its entire sequence allows us to detect phylogenetically
closely related species within the Aspergilaceae family or to identify species-specific
contaminating fungi.